As We Reach That Last Crescendo
by picturebookgirl
Summary: -'and if your plane fell out of the skies/who would you call with your last goodbyes...' after a tragic event, cam realised that it was never worth being angry at her, even after she had hurt him. closh, eventually clam. character death. R/R? :D


**Dedicated to Lisa, Tash, Dez and Mersaydez. 'Cus they're all so superduper awesome ((:**

**Disclaimer:** Unfortunately, all the Clique characters belong to Lisi Harrison, the lyrics at the beginning belong to Kris Allen and the lyrics at the end belong to the band Five For Fighting. The only thing that belongs to me are the title and the storyline (:

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**-[as we reach that last crescendo]-**

**...**

**..**

**.**

'_...and if your plane fell out of the skies/who would you call with your last goodbyes...'_

_**C**_laire _**L**_yons, clad in an azure Anna Sui summer dress, placed a pair of Fendi aviator shades on her petite face, covering her equally azure eyes. Her glossy paint box pink lips were set in her patented "bored" pout and, as usual, not showing any other emotion.

She was at Westchester County Airport ready to board her first class flight, provided by Vogue magazine, to Brazil for an editorial photo shoot. Long gone from the innocent Keds wearing 7th grader Beta, Claire was now an international supermodel, with her face plastered on the cover of every known magazine, billboards and bus stops. At seventeen, she was living the high life she, and everyone else, had always dreamed of.

She clip-clopped her way up the metal ramp, the sound of her black Prada gladiator heels on the cold metal resonating around the runway. As she entered the plane, a hot model-worthy male air host led Claire to her seat and slipped her his phone number with a cheeky wink. Claire flashed a polite smile back but after he turned away, pretend-gagged and stuffed the scrap of card into the complimentary puke bag.

After settling herself, she took out her iPhone and checked it. Twelve new messages and 5 missed phone calls flashed on the worn out screen. She groaned, but clicked open the message icon, to see who they were all from.

Josh. Claire sighed as the name popped up six of the twelve times. Josh Hotz was her boyfriend, a socialite and photographer for the well known _Westchester Wag, _the Westchester version of the Page Six. They had met at the opening of the then new club, Sapphire and from then on, the couple were inseparable.

But this doesn't go without saying that they didn't have any problems. Like all couples, Claire and Josh had their share of problems. But unlike "normal" couples, they couldn't split up or fight in public, not at the epitome of Claire's career. So they kept their fights and bickering to themselves, in private.

Claire's job was a handy one. It made it easier to get away from everything. So whenever she had a fight with Josh, she would just simply ask her agent to book her for another five photo shoots to occupy the time.

And to give Josh time to suck up to her.

After deleting the 8 messages from him, Claire read the other 4 messages that were worth reading. Two were from Alicia, her best friend and agent, telling her not to muck up this job because this was a big one, but with a p.s that she should also get some rest on the plane. Claire always thought it was funny that Alicia was working for her, and not the other way around. In high school, she was the captain of the cheerleading team as well as class president and Claire had always been a teensy bit jealous of her.

The other two were from her mom. Claire smiled at the text messages. Her mom had been there for her from the very beginning and from her very first go-see. Unlike many models, Claire didn't want her mom to be her agent because she was scared that it would make their relationship turn sour.

With a smile on her face, Claire saved the messages from her mom, wishing her good luck and to have fun. She checked her Facebook page and updated her status ('on my way to sunny Brazil, bitches! Yes, be jealous. xoxo') to her 2,583 friends and adoring fans who had somehow found her not-so-private page.

"_Can all passengers please turn off their phones or put it on flight mode. Thank you"_

She was about to turn off the phone when she realised that it had run out of battery. She rolled her eyes and tossed it back in her oversized dove gray Chanel bowling bag, which was situated on the empty seat next to her.

After trying to get comfortable, the plane took off. As the "seat belt on" sign turned off, Claire immediately signalled for a steward and asked for a glass of Cristal champagne. She got one immediately.

After browsing through the lame selection of movies and TV shows, Claire unravelled her iPod and placed the white buds in her ears, turning the volume up. She then drifted into an uncomfortable sleep.

**-xo-**

**[flashback]**

_Claire was running and yelling after Cam to come back. She had just broken up with him to focus on her modelling career and he had not taken it very well._

'_Cam!' Claire yelled, tripping over herself as she ran after him. But he didn't listen. He kept on running, heading straight for the woods, a short cut he used that ran from her back yard to the end of his street. One that he was never going to use again._

_She kept on following him, surprised that she was not tired. Running was not her strong point and usually, Claire got puffed if she even tried to run after Cam. She guessed all the time spent at the gym to keep her body model toned was paying off._

'_Cam. Cam! CAM!' Claire was in hysterics now. She didn't think that the break up was going to be this bad; she thought they were going to stay friends, at least. They had been too close for too long for it to end this bad._

_But Cam kept on running and running and running until Claire couldn't see him anymore. She didn't dare to venture any deeper into the woods; she'd heard that they were unsound and she didn't want to risk it._

_So she left it. She left him, and for the next few days, she didn't see him; she could tell that he was ignoring her. And a week later, she left the school, in pursue of her modelling career. She had been a drop out at the tender age of fifteen._

**-xo-**

Claire woke up with a start. The plane had flown into turbulence, the plane shaking and jittering everywhere. She hated it when this happened and being a supermodel hadn't given her the superpower to be fearless. She sighed at her situation. Since her photo shoot had been last minute, all the private jets had been booked up and she had to ride commercial; something she hadn't done in four years.

Claire gripped the plush leather hand rest tightly, leaving behind moon shaped indents. She jabbed at the little 'call for assistance' button frenziedly, nearly jamming it. The little light flashed on and off, on and off in a hypnotic trance.

The hot air steward that had given her his number before trudged up before her, looking tired and very rumpled. He gave her a forced smile and asked for what she needed.

"Cristal. Now. Actually, five minutes ago. Shoo!"

He came back, with a delicate glass of bubbly liquid and placed it on the little tray. She grabbed it feverishly and downed it in one gulp.

"Another one. Actually, just give me the bottle."

"Sorry miss, we're no-" he started

"Do I look like I give a crap? I need the bottle, now. Please. Whatever."

Tired, the steward didn't bother arguing. He came back with a full bottle of Cristal in his hands and nearly slammed it in front of Claire.

"Anything else, miss?" He asked, through gritted teeth.

"No." She answered curtly, already trying to unscrew the cork. It came off with a _pop!_, which nearly impaled the guy sitting across from her. He gave her a glare.

Claire took a swig out of the bottle, and then another, and then another. She felt looser already, lighter and the feeling spread over her whole body, like it has done so manymanymany times before. The sweet nectar trickled down her throat in a familiar manner, the bubbles tickling the back of her nose. She could feel herself relaxing and swaying in time to her iPod…

_THUMP!_

The plane was still in turbulence. It shook, sloshing the drink down her dress staining it a darker blue colour, her white buds falling also falling out of her bejewelled ears. She cursed colourfully, before taking another shaky gulp of champagne.

"_We are currently experiencing a little fight turbulence. Can all passengers please go back to their designated seats and fasten their seatbelts. Do not worry, the storm will pass. Thank you."_

"Oh my Lord, we're in a storm?" Claire shrieked, before whipping up the window shield, exposing the dark grey clouds.

She slammed the shield shut and took another gulp of champagne. But instead of a gush of the sweet sensation, she only got a trickle.

"Shit." She cursed and jabbed on the 'call for assistance' button once again.

This time a women, the stewardess politely asked her to only press the button once while eyeing the empty Cristal bottle in her hand.

"Yeah, whatever. Give me another one, pronto." Claire demanded, her voice coming out all slurred and indistinct.

"Sorry. We don't serve to the already intoxicated." The bitch-of-a-stewardess said snidely, before snatching the bottle out of her hands. Claire whimpered protectively.

The plane jerked again, this time so hard that the stewardess slipped and fell, causing the bottle to fall and smash to pieces. Claire shut her eyes, trying to block out her surroundings.

It all went downhill from there.

A loud _BANG!_ erupted from the back of the plane, causing everyone, including Claire, to gasp in shock. The retractable table in front of her came loose from the latch, hitting her square on the knees. She cried out in pain, as she rubbed ferociously on her knees. She calculated the amount of concealer she would need to use if a bruise came out and cursed under her breath.

"_We are sorry for the sudden shock. We are just experience-"_

BANG!

Claire screeched as the plane suddenly transformed into a hellish rollercoaster ride with no ending. The lights started to flicker on and off as she felt her stomach lurch upwards and grabbed the puke bag just in time before puking up peach coloured liquid into the paper bag. She dry heaved a couple of times before folding it back up and placing it back into the pocket in front of her with shaking hands.

The plane then suddenly stopped the bobbing and the shaking, making the atmosphere almost serene. The lights flickered back on and it seemed like it wasn't going to turn back off anytime soon. Everyone on the plane seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

Claire sat back on the heavily cushioned seat and closed her eyes, her headache miraculously passing. She popped a couple of tabs of Panadol just in case before popping out the leg rest from underneath her.

"_Sorry for the inconvenient turbulence. We hope that nobody was hurt during that. If you have any queries or trouble, please don't hesitate to call one of our stewards. Thank you for flying with us and we hope that the rest of the flight will be enjoyable."_

"I'm never flying with this stupid airline ever again, that's for sure." Claire muttered under her breath, reclining her seat and drifting off to sleep.

Little did she know how ironic her statement was.

**-xo-**

**[flashback]**

'_Claire, Cam just called you.'_

_Claire had just gotten back from a launch party for Vogue magazine, celebrating her first ever photo shoot with them and she was absolutely exhausted. But she was curious as to why Cam would call her now when he hadn't even bothered to call to wish her happy sixteenth two weeks ago._

''_Kay. Thanks, mum. I'll just have a shower and I'll call him back.'_

_Judi Lyons smiled. She had always liked Cam, he was such a sweet boy and she was quite sad that their relationship didn't end well._

_One long, hot shower later, Claire picked up the phone and subconsciously dialled the one number that she had bothered to memorise. It rang once, twice, three times..._

'_Hello?'_

_Claire was taken aback at the sound of his slightly deepened voice and didn't answer it back._

'_Massie, if that's you again, I'm so not falling for it.'_

'_Cam, it's me. Claire.' Massie? __Who was Massie? Claire's stomach churned. Had he moved on already?_

_Cam was silent for a while. All Claire could hear was his tinny breathing over the phone._

'_Hi. Claire.' Cam finally said, stiffly. 'Uh, how are you?'_

'_I'm fine, Cam. Look, I'm really tired so can we just get to what you wanted to talk to me about?'_

_Cam was silent for a few seconds before answering her back. 'Right. Well, I just wanted to say congratulations on your first photo shoot for Vogue magazine. I know how much you've wanted that ever since you started modelling.'_

_Claire's lips turned into a sort of half smiled. Maybe they were going to be friends again! 'Thanks, Cam. That really means a lot to me.'_

'_Yeah. Oh and also, I have a box of your stuff that I found when I was cleaning my room today. Can you come and pick it up sometime soon? Or are you too busy to do that? I can just drop it off, or something.'_

_Claire's heart dropped, faster, lower and harder than when it did when she found out that Chanel hadn't wanted her for that Paris runway show because she was 'too fat'. _

'_Oh. Ok, then. I'll come and pick it up tomorrow at ten.'_

'_Sweet. Ok.' Cam's answers were short and abrupt._

''_Kay well, see you tomorrow, then.'_

'_Okay. Bye.'_

_Cam hung up straight away, leaving Claire listening to the lonely dial tone. She hung up a few minutes later._

'_Supermodels don't cry. Supermodels DON'T cry. Especially a model that just had a photo shoot with Vogue magazine, dammit.'_

_But as she passed a picture that was permanently super glued on the side of her bedroom door of the two of them laughing, she couldn't help it. She just... let it out._

_And as she realised that he hadn't even wished her a late sixteenth, she let the tears flow out even harder._

**-xo-**

Claire got awakened for the third fucking time by a violent shudder. She opened her eyes with a start and she saw that the lights had started to flicker on and off again.

The plane veered off to the right, causing her to press against the wall next to her. She was then brutally thrown to the left as the plane veered off to the left, causing her to knock her side onto the arm rest. She swore, not even bothering to cover it up.

The lights then flickered another couple of times before turning off completely, causing some people on the plane to scream, her being one of them.

"_We are sorry for the slight inconvenience-"_

"It's more than slight, you blind dumbass!" Someone screeched from behind her. The plane shuddered violently in response.

"_-but please just stay calm, stay in your seats and put on your seatbelts. This storm WILL pass. Thank you."_

Just as the pilot finished off his the last of his positive testimony, there was a loud _crack!_ that resonated from the back of the plane body. There was a humid silence of anticipation before the plane started to tip backwards.

Chaos.

"_Attention all passengers! We are only expe-"_

"We don't fucking CARE!" Someone from the back shouted over the din. Claire closed her eyes and took a deep breath, blocking all the noise from the surroundings, hoping this was all just a sick, twisted nightmare. She opened her eyes again.

The sight in front of her stayed the same.

"Oh God, we're going to die." The man she had nearly hit with the champagne cork breathed out in her general direction. Claire wanted to puke up the contents of what was left in her stomach.

She surveyed the scene in front of her in a sick fascination. People were crying all over the place, some were praying and chanting and mumbling, some were holding hands in circles, some were seated in their seats with their eyes closed. Claire shut her eyes and tried to think.

She knew her fate already; she was feeling strangely calm of this. But nobody else did; not her mum, not Alicia, not Todd, her favourite brother of her three brothers. She turned to her bag and unzipped it open, looking for her iPhone. When she couldn't find it, she tipped the whole contents of her bag on the ground, not caring anymore. She was going to die, anyway.

Claire found her shiny iPhone, took looked at the blank screen and remembered that the battery had died.

"Crap." Claire muttered. There had to be a plane phone, somewhere.

She looked around at the throng of bodies that had occupied the cramped first class cabin. The plane shuddered as another engine died, tipping back even more, descending even faster and it was slowing her down. But she was on a mission.

Finally, FINALLY, she reached the plane phone. Surprisingly, nobody was occupying it. The plane jerked again, causing her to slip and everyone else on the plane to scream in horror. She lunged at the phone and held it onto her ear as if it were a lifeline.

There was no dial tone, nothing. She looked at the instructions on the phone and followed those. A few shaky wrong dials later, she finally reached her Judi.

"Hello?"

The sound of her mother's warm voice caused her to burst into tears.

"Claire? Is that you? What happened? Are you ok? Why is the background so loud?"

"Mum. MUM. The plane-" Claire couldn't say anymore between the heart wrenching sobs.

"Claire! Oh my God, what about the plane?" Judi's heart was sinking, tears already falling out of her eyes. She was scared about what was going to come next.

Claire took a shaky gulp of air before continuing her sentence. "Mum, the plane. Something happened to it. I think we're all going to die."

Another loud bang erupted from the back of the plane as another backup engine failed, causing it to tilt even more. Claire sobbed into the phone.

"Claire, oh my God." Judi was crying now.

"Mum. MUM. Oh God, I love you. Tell Todd I love him. Tell everyone-"

"Claire. Please, don't do this."

"Mum, I have to. This is the reality."

Judi was sobbing now, uncontrollable tears falling out of her azure eyes. "Claire, darling. Please, just stay on the phone."

Claire clung onto the phone, not knowing how she felt. But she knew that she had to do something else.

"Mum, I love you. I love you so much, but I have to go now. I have to call someone else."

"Claire Bear, please, stay on."

It was taking all of her willpower to say the next words but she had to say them.

"I'm sorry. I love you, mum. I love you so much."

"Claire. I love you too. Please, say hi to your dad for me." Judi chocked an estranged laugh before saying the last goodbye.

"Bye, Claire."

"Bye, mother. Tell Todd I love him. I love you. So much."

Before Claire could change her mind, she clicked the dial tone. The plane shuddered and tipped back again, causing another big jolt.

Claire closed her eyes and dialled the next number. The last number she was ever going to dial.

One ring, two rings, three rings. Ring... Ring... Ring...

No answer. Claire shook her head, and tried again.

Ring... Ring... Ring...

"Hello? Alicia, baby, is that you? I quite enjoyed last night. Are you up for it again tonight? Claire will still be gone." Josh's sultry voice answered the phone.

"What the FUCK?" Claire cried. She couldn't believe that she hung up on her mum for this scummy, cheating LIAR.

"Claire? Oh God."

"Fuck you, Josh Hotz. Fuck. YOU." Claire was fuming as she slammed the phone down. She sat down and cried, wishing that she could have someone to tell her that everything would be ok, someone to tell her that they loved her, someone who knew exactly who she was. Someone that could be everything Josh Fucking Hotz was not.

Then, it hit her. There was someone out there, someone who knew who she was. She picked up the phone again and dialled the only number she had ever bothered to memorise when she was still in high school. Someone who knew and loved her, even when she was still an ugly duckling. Someone who she hoped would accept her back again, even after what she had done to him.

It only rang once before he picked up.

"Hello?" Cam's voice was all groggy, as if he had just woken up.

"Cam? Oh, God. Cam."

"Claire? Is that you?" His voice was alert now, sensing the panic in her voice.

Claire took a deep breath before speaking. "Cam, I'm currently on an airplane at the moment. And it's going to crash."

Cam gasped. "Claire. Are you ok?"

"Cam, I'm fine. But I just need to tell you that... I love you. I still love you, no matter what. Breaking up with you, it had to be done. I swear, it was supposed to hurt you less. Cam, I'm so, so sorry." Claire chocked down a sob.

"Claire, it doesn't matter now. All that is in the past. I'm so glad you called me." Cam's voice was thick now.

"I'm sorry," she whispered into the phone.

"Claire, I love you."

Claire gasped as another _BANG! _sounded, lurching the plane down and causing her to fall hard onto the ground. The phone slipped out of her clammy hands.

"Claire. CLAIRE! Are you still there?"

She scrabbled towards the phone and grasped it in her hands. She was a complete mess.

"Cam, I'm here. I don't have much time anymore. Please, stay on the phone. Stay with me." Funnily enough, she had stopped crying now. It seemed like all the tears had gone now. There was nothing left in her.

"Claire, anything for you. I'll be here with you, the whole way." Cam leaned back on the headboard of his bed and closed his eyes as tears tried to escape from them.

"Do you remember, in the eighth grade, when we were talking about what we were going to do when we were twenty?" Claire laughed bitterly at the memory. "We were going to go on an OE. To Brazil. Now, I'll never get to go."

Cam chuckled. "And to Europe. And we were going to have sex everywhere. All the bed and breakfasts we were going to stay in, the metros we were going to travel on..."

"At the top of The Eiffel Tower. We were so sick then." Claire shook her head. She felt her heart ache as she realised that she was never going to experience those things.

"_We are sorry to inform to you that all the plane's engines have now stopped working. We are scheduled to crash land in approximately five minutes. We are sorry for this inconvenience. Thank you for flying with us, and we hope that you have found this experience enjoyable. Well, up to this moment, anyway. Thank you, and goodbye."_

Claire laughed at the message that had just blared out of the overhead speakers. "Cam, did you hear that?"

"Every word. That means that we only have five minutes to be together."

"Cam!" Claire was starting to feel scared now. She gripped the phone harder.

"Claire, hush. It's ok" Cam whispered.

"What do you think it feels like to die? What will happen to me?" Claire asked. She leaned on the wall and slid down, sitting her bottom on the floor.

"I honestly don't know. Why don't you tell me?" Cam joked.

"Cam, that's seriously sick." Claire blurted, not knowing if she should cry or laugh. She decided to laugh.

"Yeah, well."

The plane let out another shudder before it started to rock side to side. They were descending faster and faster and faster...

"Cam, this is it." Claire whispered.

"Claire. I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you. And I never stopped loving you."

"Cam. Oh God, I love you so much it's not funny."

"Claire. I have to say something to you."

"What?"

"Happy belated sixteenth."

Claire snorted as she felt tears pour out of her eyes again. "I love you."

"I love you."

The plane shuddered and then, it felt like it gave up. Claire surveyed the surroundings and saw that everyone was eerily quiet, as if anticipating how they would die. She was a little spooked.

But she knew, that it was time. Time to go, time to say goodbye.

"Goodbye, Cam."

"Claire, I'm not going to say goodbye, not now. This is not the end. Not now, not like this."

"Cam, please." Claire sobbed. She had thrown her life away, thrown him away, the sweetest boy alive, for a little fame. And all the VIP contacts she had now couldn't save her life. Literally.

"I told you that I was going to stay until the very end, and that's what I'm doing right now."

It was it. This was the end.

"Goodbye, Cam."

And that was the last thing Claire Stacey Lyons ever said. Cam heard a loud _BANG! _before there was a dial tone. Before he threw his phone across the room, where it shattered into a million billion pieces, like his heart. Before he threw himself on his bed and cried himself to sleep, something he hadn't done in a long, long time.

**-xo-**

The next day, Cam checked the papers. It was there; a headliner. He scrolled his finger down the list of names and founds hers, in the middle of the black mess of squiggles. He ripped it out and threw it across the kitchen before running his fingers through his dark, messy hair and pouring himself a cup of black coffee.

It was done. She was gone and there was nothing he could do about it. Nothing that could turn back time, nothing that could make him hold her in his arms again. He took a huge sip of his coffee, not caring that it burnt his tongue. He couldn't go back to the time where he let her go, where he LET her let him go. He couldn't rewind and undo all the messy, painful loose ends that he had let unravel, unravel, unravel.

He couldn't go back and tell her that he did want to be friends, because back then, it was much too painful, too humiliating for him. She was off to be a supermodel while he was still in high school, worrying about fucking calculus. But he wished he could go back and maybe, just maybe, they would have had 6 years of 'friendly' memories, instead of empty sadness.

But most of all, he wanted to go back in time and tell himself; that young, naive, 15 year old, to not hold grudges because life's too short. Anyone can die just like that, even the young was young and seemingly famous.

But he couldn't. No amount of shooting stars, wishes on every upcoming birthday, touching horseshoes and finding four leaf clovers could do that, to let him have the only thing he wanted.

Nothing.

_'...dying for just another moment/and I'm just dreaming/counting the ways to where you are...'_

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_**Ohmygrapes, that was actually THE longest onexshot I've ever written in my whole life. Including this author's note, it was eleven and a quarter pages long on Microsoft word. That's INSANE. Anyway, hope you guys liked it! ((: I had written the beginning ages ago, but just finished it as of recently. So, yeah. Sorry for the superduper terrible ending! D: I had no idea how to end it. There was supposed to be a message in this story and it's kind of a cliché one, but I hope you guys take in on board ((: Butanyway... yeah. Make my day and chuck me a review? You'll get a virtual crayon if you do. Any colour you wish ((:**_

_**SkyexHIGH.**_


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